The act of stringing a racquet requires a considerable amount of manual labor. Stringing machines assist in the process by maintaining the racquet in place and providing desired tension in the strings, but a majority of the work involved is performed by a person. More particularly, a person must align the racquet within the stringing machine, and then string each of the cross or main strings individually, followed by weaving each of the cross and main strings to form the resulting string grid.
Those in the racquet stringing business often spend many hours a day standing in front of a stringing machine. Conventional stringing machines include a stringing platform with a turntable positioned on top of a fixed stand. The turntable spins within a plane parallel to the floor. Because of the fixed orientation of the stand and the planar position of the turntable, the person stringing the racquet must adjust his or her posture to conform to the position of the stringing machine. Furthermore, the various steps involved in stringing a racquet require the racquet stringer to assume a variety of stances. In particular, one of the racquet stringer's shoulders is often positioned much higher than the other. Also, the fixed orientation of the stringing machine often induces the racquet stringer to hunch over the turntable. The awkward posture induced by conventional stringing machines often causes injuries and fatigue, which ultimately lead to reduced efficiency in the performance of the racquet stringer.
It would thus be desirable to provide a stringing machine that is ergonomically designed to allow users to work with the stringing machine without having to assume awkward or uncomfortable positions. In doing so, it would also be desirable to provide an ergonomically-designed stringing machine that can automatically adjust its orientation to accommodate individuals of various sizes. It would be further desirable for such an ergonomically-designed stringing machine to be adjustable to accommodate personal preferences.
Racquets are typically strung with a single string tension value for the entire string bed that typically matches the manufacturer's recommended string tension for the racquet. In some instances, racquets may be strung with two tension values, one tension value may be used for stringing the main string segments and a second string tension value may be used for the cross string segments of the racquet string. In other instances, if a player desires a stiffer or softer string bed, the racquet will typically be strung at the single tension value that is either slightly higher or slightly lower than the recommended string tension of the racquet, or at the higher or lower end of the recommended string tension range for a racquet. This approach is generally applied to all racquets including those of different head shapes and for players having different skills.
It would thus be desirable to provide a system and method of stringing a racquet that provides additional flexibility and adaptability to the better match a particular racquet design or player. It would also be desirable to have a racquet stringing machine that could facilitate the customized stringing of a racquet.